At day at Belvedere of Macugnaga

Macugnaga certainly needs no introduction: the famous tourist resort, popular by near tourists both in summer and winter, mainly from Milan, Varese and Novara, many owners of second homes, but also by visitors from abroad English and French first.

Walser cradle, rich in tradition and culture, Macugnaga lies at the feet of Monte Rosa and its accomodation is really wide: from the typical mountain hotel to bed & breakfasts, to the house to rent for a week or for a year. Businesses, events and exhibitions, meeting places: in short, Macugnaga is, of all places in the Ossola Valley, the most equipped and modern resort in terms of tourist accommodation. But it is also a village set in an incredibly beautiful natural scenery, and endless are the sports that you can practice, both in summer and in wintertime.

Along Anzasca Valley
It’s Tuesday, February 17th and the destination of our reportage is the Belvedere, one of two ski areas of Macugnaga. The day is quite windy, and we know that it will be very cold on the slopes, so we equipped and cover ourselves with care. Giancarlo and I leave Domodossola and drive to the Simplon road until Piedimulera, where we leave the highway and take the provincial road to Anzasca Valley. In just over 30 minutes, despite the wok in progress of making safe of the road, we reach the pearl of the Monte Rosa, at an altitude of 1327 meters.

First stop at the tourist office of Macugnaga
The first stop is in the central square of the town, where the Tourist Information Office is set. We met Cristina, who gives us lot of tourist information brochure. Virtually, in the IAT Macugnaga you can find all sorts of information about what the resort offers: from brochures about tourist attractions, the list of public exercises with their opening hours, until the calendar of events. We are in Macugnaga to ski, but also to visit a truly unique attraction: the Pink Ice Hotel, a prototype hotel realized completely in ice by the Neapolitan sculptor Amelio Mazzella. It was set up in Alpe Burki, at an altitude 1581 meters, directly on the ski slopes of Belvedere area.
Cristina shows us some pictures of the hotel, and explains how to reach the Belvedere. We let her work and take the car once again. We travel all over the village and in five minutes we arrive in Square Pecetto, where is located the departure of the chairlift.
We are waited by the mayor, Giovanna Boldini, and the assessor Davide Rabbogliatti. They tell meeverything about the Pink Ice Hotel, a true prototype hotel in a shortened version (54 square meters) with bedroom, reception, bar and a series of sculptures, located at 1581 meters altitude, at the Alpe Burke of Macugnaga, and made entirely by ice, shaped by the skilled hands of the Neapolitan sculptor Amelio Mazzella, president of the sculptors of ice, with the help of colleagues Pieritalo Torri of Carrara and Bruno Cappelletti from Trento Valsugana. The hotel, I am told, was inaugurated on February 14th and will live up to thaw then, presumably, until the first week of March.

Climb to Burki
In ticket office salute also the director of skiing facilities, administrated by the company Monterosa Star, Filippo Besozzi. The company manages two ski areas, the Belvedere and the Moro. Twelve employees in service throughout the year, assisted by 18 seasonal people during the winter, alternate in two ski resorts.
The area of Burki-Belvedere, where we will focus today, is suitable for both beginners and advanced skiers. It is served by two chairlifts and a ski lift, and at the departure of the chairlift is also located a school camp for children with a comfortable treadmill and a flat area to become more confident on skis.
There are six tracks, three of which are blue, so pretty easy, served by the first chairlift, that from Pecetto to Alpe Burki, and three red, achievable with the second chairlift, that from Alpe Burki to Belvedere. We start from 1390 meters of Pecetto to reach the 2000 meters of Alpe Belvedere.

Here the Pink Ice Hotel
We go up on the chairlift, and in 15 minutes reach the 1601 meters up the Alpe Burki. Curiosity about the Pink Ice Hotel is great, and so we decide to go there for a visit now. Gone down from the chairlift, take the right and even one hundred yards ahead, we see the dome of an igloo. It’s the ice hotel, overlooking a wonderful point overlooking the valley below.
Take off our skis and we reach the entrance, composed by a sort of dice on ice
Cross the threshold and we find ourselves in the hotel lobby: benches in ice, a small bar with glasses full of wine, a tablecloth.
The atmosphere is very cozy and the temperature is really comfortable (considered the strong wind outside, here it is really good).
On the right we can see the bedroom: a beautiful bed, with a blanket and a couple of pillows. How to resist to the temptation to lie down?
The mattress is very hard, but the feeling is wonderful, the atmosphere hushed, the mood light. It is really good. Browsing a bit around: nothing is left to chance, even the furniture, softened by beautiful ice sculptures. The "Pink Ice Hotel" is a prototype, which next year will become a real hotel. In the next winter season, in fact, will be commercialized stay package with 3 nights to spend in one of the many hotels Macugnaga, and a night at the "Pink Ice Hotel." We are sure that many people will want to experience something truly unique and unforgettable: a night at the foot of Monte Rosa, in a hotel made of ice only.

Let’s ski!
We leave the hotel: it's time to discover the tracks.
We begin to ski down the slope Burki and stop halfway to take the ski-lift which serves the slope Gare.
We go down easily, the tracks are pretty easy and pretty wide, suitable also for those who are not expert.
Ski for a good half an hour, going down also along the other track available, the Fontanone. There's too crowded, and it is clear the presence of a large number of foreign skiers: many British, then French and Swiss.
It 'time for lunch and we return to Pecetto, where we stop to have something to eat (and to protect ourselves a little bit from the wind) and we meet the director, Filippo Besozzi, to let us know something more about Belvedere.

Macugnaga beloved by the English and French.
We ask for information on foreigners we met while skiing, and Filippo confirms that this is the period of white weeks. There are many British who enjoy skiing holidays in Macugnaga (and we have noticed several struggling with skiing lessons), but, with them, there are also French and, new this year, even the Dutch tourists.
The director explains that, during the week, the slopes are not particularly crowded, and it is therefore possible to ski in peace and avoid excessive queues. It’s during the weekend that skiers flock to Macugnaga, and the town revives welcoming hundreds of tourists.
Obviously services to skiers are not absent: in the district two ski schools are active, and there are many sports shops where you can rent the equipment, all located in the village.

Thousands of solutions for ski pass
At Belvedere, as at the Moro, you can purchase a ski pass, choosing from the numerous solutions proposed, from a simple daily (on weekdays costs 22 €, the holiday € 27), weekend packages, to those from three to fifteen days until the season ticket valid for two days a week or every day. The offer is really wide and each one can choose the most advantageous formula to suit his needs.
It is also available ski-pass intended for beginners, who uses only the treadmill at Pecetto and the first chairlift to the Alpe Burki. And non-skiers can always get in the chairlift for a simple walk or for a coffee or lunch in altitude. The restaurant service is rather large: two bar restaurants at the start of the first chairlift, a refuge in the station can also be reached on foot, the CAI refuge at two hundred meters from the station where you can also stay overnight, and a bar directly on the tracks reachable only by skis .

You can ski until May, 1st.
This year in Macugnaga skiing will be possible until May 1st, a very long season, which began in mid-November, with lots of snow and beautiful sunny days. There was no need to shoot the artificial snow, but for seasons less fortunate, it is a service available to snowmaking. The director anticipates us that the chairlifts will be replaced in 2010 and that will be realized the lighting at night.

With the skins on the slopes
At the Belvedere there are good opportunities for lovers of snow-shoes and skins: during the opening hours of the skiing facilities is, in fact, possible to trace down the slopes, which are very large and therefore suitable to accommodate safely even those who love walking in the snow.

And now go up to the Belvedere
We hail Pilippo and put your skis on because we are told that the wind has dropped and that the second lift, leading from Burki to the 2000 meters of Belvedere , is open so let's not waste time. Back into the chairlift and reach Alpe Belvedere. There seems almost to touch the Monte Rosa with a finger and the landscape all around is really impressive.
From Belvedere three slopes branch, all red: the Belvedere, the Ruonograbe and Rifugio. We decide to go down the Refuge. We stop several times to admire the surrounding mountains, and Giancarlo takes the opportunity to take many pictures. All around there is an incredible peace, the mountain, the real one, is a living presence and perceived. It is a really good sensation to be in the midst of all this peace. We get to Burki, where we find many children involved in skiing lessons with teachers, and then down, until the arrival, in Pecetto.

Our day ended, and once again we were able to know and experience one of the most beautiful ski stations of our district. The next time we will go up to the 3000 meters of Mount Moro, to explore the area of Macugnaga, and to meet wild friends of the Pink Snow Park.

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